Safety guard for lamp tubes



Aug. 19, 1958 B. ROTH SAFETY cum FOR LAMP mans Filed June 24, 1954 FIG.

FIG. 2

INVENTOR. BARNEY ROTH M.W M

grToRNE s United States Patent 'Ofiiice 2,848,600 Patented Aug. .19,1958 SAFETY GUARD FOR LAMP TUBES Barney Roth, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application June 24, 1954, Serial No. 438,945

2 Claims. (Cl. 240--51.11)

This invention relates to safety guards'for lamp tubes and, moreparticularly, to a wire safety guard for use with fluorescent lamp tubesand the like to prevent the tubes from falling in the event they shouldbecome disengaged from the tube mounting brackets.

The conventional fluorescent lamp tubes are extended cylindrical memberswhich are supported between a pair of brackets. The brackets aregenerally either extended downwardly from a mounting surface or extendedhorizontally outwardly from a vertical mounting surface. The tubes areconventionally engaged in the brackets by means of a pair of contactpins which enter a pin receiving portion of the bracket and are lockedinto position upon rotation of the tube. It is well known that the tubesbecome disengaged from these sockets or mounting brackets as a result ofvibration or accidental contact or both. Generally, the final motion ofthe tube serving to release the contact pins from the mounting bracketsresults from normal building vibration and thus the tube when releasedfalls from the brackets without warning.

Itis an object of the present invention to provide a safety guard whichis inexpensive to manufacture and which can be simply and easily appliedto conventional tube mounting brackets for the purpose of catching thetube in the event that it should become released from the mountingbrackets.

Inasmuch as there are a great number of fluorescent lamp tubes now inservice, it will be evident that a simple and inexpensive type of guardwhich is substantially foolproof in its operation would have a highdegree of utility, and it will also be evident that such a guard must beof such a nature as to be readily applied to existing fixtures.

The accommodation of the foregoing objects and considerations isaccomplished by the safety guard set forth in the following descriptionand the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is an elevation of a conventional fluorescent lamp tube andmounting bracket arrangement having the safety guards mounted thereon;and

Figure 2 is an enlarged perspective view showing one end of a lamp tube,its associated bracket and the safety guard.

In the figures there is shown a mounting plate 2 of conventional typewithin or above which is commonly positioned the ballast unit normallyemployed with a fluorescent lamp. Extending downwardly from the plate 2are mounting brackets 4 and 6 which are spaced apart for a sufficientdistance to provide for the admission of a lamp tube 8 therebetween. Thelamp tube 8 is provided at each of its ends with a pair of pins 10providing the conventional contact for the necessary electrical elementswithin the tube. The contact pins 10 also serve to support the lamp tube8 within the mounting brackets 4 and 6 in the conventional manner.

The safety guard is preferably formed from a length of wire and has aportion 12 adjacent to one of its ends extending across the face of themounting bracket 6 adjacent to the lamp tube 8. The wire is formed toprovide portions 14, 16 and 18 extending around a first edge, theopposite face, and the opposite edge of the bracket. The portion 18 ofthe safety guard is extended as indicated at 20 and passes down underthe lower surface of the lamp tube as indicated at 22 terminating in anupwardly turned end portion 24. This formation provides a cradle in theregion of the wire indicated by the numerals 22 and 24 which is adaptedto receive the lamp tube in the event the tube should become disengagedfrom the mounting brackets 4 and 6. The opposite end of the safetyguard, i. e., the end of the portion '12 of the guard, terminates in ashort downwardly turned end portion 26.

The portions 12 and 16 of the safetyvguard are preferably formed so asto lie on the same horizontal plane. While the end 26 of the wire isadapted to engage the face of the mounting bracket,the portion 12, whilepreferably engaging the face of the bracket, need not necessarily do so.The essential consideration is that, upon the weight of the lamp beingasserted upon the cradle portion 22, 24 of the safety guard, therotation of the portions 12 and 16 caused by the rotation of the portion20 resulting from the downward movement of the cradle portion 22, 24will cause the short downwardly turned end portion 26 to be pressedfirmly into engagement with the inside face of the mounting bracket 6.As will be evident by viewing Figure 1 when the lamp tube descends froma normal position such as occupied by the tube 8 shown in solid lines toa lowered position as occupied by the tube 8 shown in constructionlines, the two safety guards 28 and 30 will have their portions 20 andthe cradle portions 22-24 rotated downwardly to the positions shown inconstruction lines at 28' and 30'. This rotation serves to urge the endportions 26 of the safety guards 28 and 30 into engagement with theirrespective mounting brackets. This force urging the downwardly turnedportions 26 of the safety guards against their respective bracketsserves to clamp the safety guards tightly in engagement with thebrackets and prevent the portions 12, 14, 16, 18 of the safety guardsfrom sliding downwardly over the brackets while they are supporting thelamp tube.

From the foregoing it will be evident that it is not necessary for theportions 14, 16, 18 of the safety guard to engage their adjacentsurfaces of the mounting bracket for their entire length. Whilesimplicity of construction and neatness of the final product makes itpreferable that these members be formed at right angles to each other,it is only necessary that suflicient contact exist between at least aportion of the face of the mounting bracket and the portion 16 of thesafety guard, and at least a portion of the opposite face of themounting bracket and the portion 12 of the safety guard so as toprovide, upon downward movement of the portion 20 of the safety guard asviewed in Figure 2, a firm engagement of the portion 26 of the safetyguard with the inside face of the tube mounting bracket. It will beevident that these and other modifications may be made to the form ofthe invention described herein without departing from the scope of theinvention as set forth in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A safety guard device for a horizontally extending lamp tube mountedby and between a pair of vertically extending brackets adjacent to theends thereof, said guard device comprising a length of wire having alower arcuate portion and an upper loop adapted to substantiallyencircle one of said brackets, said loop being integrally connected tosaid lower arcuate portion by a straight intermediate portion, said loopbeing laterally oflset relative to the plane containing said arcuateportion, said loop having an end portion spaced from the adjacentportion of the loop, said end portion being defined by an angularlyoffset prong which is angularly transverse to the plane containing theloop, said arcuate portion having a free end laterally spaced from saidintermediate portion in said plane containing said arcuate portions.

2. In combination, a pair of vertical brackets mounted on a horizontalsupport, an elongated lamp tube positioned between said brackets andhaving its ends releasably connected to said brackets, and guard membersreleasably connected to said brackets, said guard members eachcomprising an upper loop substantially encircling the correspondingbracket, said loop having an end portion spaced from the adjacentportion of the loop, said end portion being defined by an angularlyoffset prong which is angularly transverse to the plane containing saidloop, an arcuate support portion transversely underlying the adjacentportion of said lamp tube, said arcuate support portion being integrallyconnected to said loop by an intermediate portion in such manner thatsaid loop is laterally offset relative to the plane contain- 4 I ingsaid arcuate support portion, said arcuate support portion normallybeing free of the weight of the tube to hold said prong out of biting,frictional engagement with the adjacent surface of the correspondingbracket, and said arcuate support portion being actuatable by the weightof said tube to rock said loop to rotate said prong into bitingfrictional engagement with the said adjacent surface of thecorresponding bracket.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS141,498 Edmonston Aug. 5, 1873 783,837 Johnston Feb. 28, 1905 1,165,625Pratt Dec. 28, 1915 1,216,592 Mors Feb. 20, 1917 1,967,427 Tuckett July24, 1935 2,319,461 Kelchner May 18, 1943 2,371,171 Holtman Mar. 13, 19452,374,032 Mueller Apr. 17, 1945 2,446,461 Diver Aug. 3, 1948 2,636,977Foster Apr. 28, 1953

